Improvement in clasps



N. H. BRUCE.

CLASPS.

Patented Jan. 11, 1876.

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H-PETiRs. FHOTO-LITHOGRAPflER. WASHINGTON. D Q

UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE.

NORMAN H. BRUGE, OF CLINTON,- ASSIGNOR TO JOHN A. S. GRAVES AND WYMAN E.ABEROROMBIE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

V IMPROVEMENT IN CLASPS.

Specification forming part of Letters PatentNo. 171,98 3, dated January11, 1876; application filed December 9, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN H. BRUCE, of Clinton, Worcester county,Massachusetts,

have invented an Improved Clasp for Stools ing-Supporters, of which thefollowing is a specification The device embraced in this inventionconsists of a thin metallic plate, having an eye or loop at thetop, bywhich connection is made with the strap of the stocking-supporter, and aslit or throat at bottom to seize hold of and gripe the top of thestocking with sufficient tenacity to support or uphold the leg of thegarment.

My improvement in such device consists, mainly, in the form and mannerof producing the slit above named, whereby I avoid injury to thestocking, and retain a firm hold upon the latter.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, aperspective view, in Fig. 2 a face view, and in Fig. 3 a crosssection,of a clasp embodying my improvement.

' In these drawings, A represents a thin metallic plate, of a size andform that shall best adapt it to the purpose intended-that is, ofconstituting the clasp or catch of a stockingsupporter. In the upperpart or half of the plate A 1 create a loop or eye, B, of a sizesufficient to receive the strap of the supporter, which is securedwithin it in a suitable manner. The method of supporting the stockingwith this clasp is to insert a fold of the top of the stocking within anarrow slit, O, formed in thelower partofthe plate A. To produce thisslitI efi'ect two cuts through the plateA-onea vertical or longitudinalcut, 1), extending centrally of the plate, from the eye or loop B nearlyto the bottom of such plate, leaving a sufficient portionfof the latterintact to resist the lateral pressure exerted by the crowding of thefabric into the slit, and the other a lateral or transverse cut, E,intersecting the lower termination of the cut D,.and extending nearly tothesides of the plate A. By means ofthe two incisions D andE two wingsor jaws, a a, are formed, which are slightly raised above the surface ofthe plate A, in order to obtain a narrow slit, G, into which thestocking is the stocking from being caught in the lateral incision E, orbeing cut or injured by the intersecting corners of the two incisions, Iprolong the lower ends of the strips b it beyond the said incision E, asshown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

In use a fold of the top of the stocking is inserted within the upperpart of the slit 0, and pressed down to its lower end and against themetal of the plate A. The friction or gripe of the sides ofthe slit uponthe stocking is'sufficiently powerful to enable the clasp to maintain afirm hold upon such stocking, while the re-enforced and rounded edges ofthe slit, and the prolonging of the strips or guards b b, protect thematerial from injury, as before stated.

I claim- 1. A clasp consisting of a metallic plate, provided with aloop, and having a slit bounded by lips a, raised or projecting from theface of the plate, as set forth.

2. The metallic plate formed with a slit bounded by lips a, asdescribed, in com'bination with re-enforcing strips 1), substantially asset forth.

NORMAN H. BRUCE. Witnesses:

' F. CURTIS,

W. E. BOARDMAN.

